A World Without Wireless Hotspots?

from the now-don't-panic... dept

Following the demise of Cometa last week, suddenly some people are "concerned" that all these wonderful WiFi hotspots are going to all go away. This seems like a bit of an overreaction to one company whose repeated missteps were well known throughout the industry. As the article points out, more and more people are now making travel arrangements based on their ability to have wireless access where they stay (and even at the airports they fly in and out of). If you have a situation where so many people want something, clearly there's an opportunity. Just because one company couldn't figure out that their business model would never work, doesn't mean that hotspots are going away. Companies are increasingly realizing that wireless access is important for business - whether they charge for them or even when they give away access for free. There are plenty of reports about places that say the return on free WiFi is significant. Also, many hotels and restaurants that set up free WiFi for their customers realize that the benefits for employees pays for itself as well. It seems a bit premature to assume that because one company couldn't make a bad business model work that the entire industry is doomed.
Hide this

Thank you for reading this Techdirt post. With so many things competing for everyone’s attention these days, we really appreciate you giving us your time. We work hard every day to put quality content out there for our community.

Techdirt is one of the few remaining truly independent media outlets. We do not have a giant corporation behind us, and we rely heavily on our community to support us, in an age when advertisers are increasingly uninterested in sponsoring small, independent sites — especially a site like ours that is unwilling to pull punches in its reporting and analysis.

While other websites have resorted to paywalls, registration requirements, and increasingly annoying/intrusive advertising, we have always kept Techdirt open and available to anyone. But in order to continue doing so, we need your support. We offer a variety of ways for our readers to support us, from direct donations to special subscriptions and cool merchandise — and every little bit helps. Thank you.

–The Techdirt Team


Reader Comments

Subscribe: RSS

View by: Time | Thread


  • identicon
    Rob, 26 May 2004 @ 10:43am

    Hotels may be getting Wifi BUT...

    So far, my experience with hotels that have "installed WiFi" have not been particularly encouraging. The problem: they do not understand the range and line-of-sight limitations of WiFi, and think that putting one AP in the lobby, or in the central courtyard, is enough to allow them to claim "WiFi access in all rooms!!!" The Best Western Orance County Airport (in southern CA), for example, has one AP in the lobby and a card in each room proudly proclaiming "WiFi access". Of course the signal is only good for a small percentage of the rooms that happen to be near the lobby, or in relatively unobstructed line-of-sight to it.
    Bottom line: don't expect that WiFi to be accessible in the room YOU'RE staying in.

    link to this | view in chronology ]


Follow Techdirt
Essential Reading
Techdirt Deals
Report this ad  |  Hide Techdirt ads
Techdirt Insider Discord

The latest chatter on the Techdirt Insider Discord channel...

Loading...
Recent Stories

This site, like most other sites on the web, uses cookies. For more information, see our privacy policy. Got it
Close

Email This

This feature is only available to registered users. Register or sign in to use it.